


Why Him, Not Me?

by MaliceLuna



Category: House M.D.
Genre: Caring, Developing Relationship, Fear of Death, Hurt, Hurt James Wilson (House M.D.), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:15:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21860779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaliceLuna/pseuds/MaliceLuna
Summary: Wilson is attacked by a patients father, the wounds are bad but the pain is worse.
Relationships: Greg House/James Wilson
Comments: 1
Kudos: 73





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry it's been awhile since I last posted a story. It's Christmas time and you know how that goes. 
> 
> This story is a very long one and I'm not done with it yet, I'm slowly working on it with the free time I have.
> 
> I don't own House M.D. 
> 
> Any stretch in character is designed to work with the story. Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Also please ignore spelling errors, I try not to let too many slip passed me, but after staring at a screen for so long it tends to happen.

Wilson had three meetings with two old patients and one new. Leaning back on his chair, reviewing the charts, he had bad news to give to the two old clients, and the new one was going to be assess to see what type of treatment they needed.. Like clockwork, the door to his office opened, a cane entered followed by a limp step “I need a consult!” bellowed the gruff voice exiting the tall man. “No you don’t, it’s 7:30 in the morning. You don’t even have a patient yet.” Wilson twirled the pen between two fingers, trying to think on how to approach these cases, one was an elderly woman who once told him if it didn’t pan out she would be alright. She had beautiful grandchildren and a wonderful support system. She was reaching 90 years old.

The second case was a younger man, late 20’s who had lung cancer. He told him he smoked two packs a day since he was ten. Chewing on the tip of the pen he could hear House talking, but his mind was elsewhere. “Hello?” a tap to his desk by a cane, brown orbs looked up to stare at House, “I’ve got three meetings today, two are going to be me telling a great grandmother she has less than a month and the other is man in his late twenties who has lung cancer because his parents were never around to tell him that smoking was bad.” House slowly sat down in the chair in front of Wilson’s desk, “And this is new, why? You have to break this news to at least ten people a month. What’s so different about this one?”

Wilson shrugged, tossing his pen onto the desk. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because no matter how many times I have to look into the eyes of people I’ve got to know and tell them ‘I’m sorry, the cancer is just too strong for the treatment’ that I somehow feel for them. Most these people are the sweetest human beings on earth, honestly whoever created us had a bad sense of humour.” looking to his watch, he had thirty minutes before his first patient got here, the old woman. He stood and moved around to House, sitting on the desk in front of the older man who looked at him inquiringly. “Out of the chair.” His foot came up and shoved the chair back, “I’ve got a meeting in thirty minutes and I’d rather not have you around to mock these poor people.” House pressed a hand to his heart, looking hurt. “How dare you.” Wilson brought a finger up and silenced House, “Nope. Out.”

The clock felt like it was moving slowly, each tick felt more like an hour. Looking through the files nervously again, he brought a hand up to rub his forehead. The knock to his office door brought his attention back to the setting, “Come in!” he put his best smile on, watching the older woman come in with her, what he assumed, daughter. “Good morning, Dr. Wilson.” she smiled back at him, using her walker to get to the seat. Her daughter seemed to be fine standing so he didn’t bother to intrude on her. “Good morning Mrs. Goldbloom. I hope the trip here wasn’t to hard on you.” and there went the conversation, a little chitchat to ease into the end. It went just as he had expected, she accepted the fact she wouldn’t be alive very much longer, though it didn’t stop the tears from coming, and it didn’t stop her daughter from crying either. He sucked in the tears that threatened to fall as the two left, thanking him for giving her at least the three years she had.

Closing the door, his head pressed against it. A heavy sigh escaped, it almost felt like he forgot to breathe at the end. Pressing away from the closed door he took the file he had and locked it away. Flopping back down on the chair he pulled out the next file, the late 20’s man who came in a year ago, his cancer was so far gone but they tried. It didn’t do much of anything in the end, they all knew it but, hope Is hope. A knock to his door, a hand went to look at his watch, this one was way early. Normally he needed a few hours between, just to relax and not have to give the death sentence to people in rows. ‘ _Morbid, James_ ’ he thought. His thoughts went to House, but the man wouldn’t just knock, he’d be barging in here with or without a patient.

“Come in.” he said with as much confidence as possible, adjusting his tie to make it a little neater. Slowly standing, sure it wasn’t just a doctor coming in. A large man, probably 200lbs over the recommended weight of one his size strolled in. Closing the door behind him as Wilson looked, confused, “Hello, may I help you? I’m not sure I recognise you, pardon me if I’m forgetting your face.” he offered his best smile, moving around the desk to the large man, though paused when he found him locking the door. His hand froze resting against the edge of his desk. “Sir?” he watched as the large man with greasy black hair, a tee-shirt that had stains from what looked to be years ago, turned to look at him. Eyes full of blackened hate from pools of brown much deeper than his own, the man stormed up to him, grabbing his shirt and slamming him back against the desk, Wilson could feel his body unable to move from how he was pinned. Hands came up to stop the hands from travelling near his throat.

“You.” the man growled, he could smell booze, the man had been heavily drinking, how did he get in the Hospital, he had to have been way passed the intoxication limit, though with his body size, he might just very well have played it off as a normal sway. The way his legs groaned to carry that massive top. “Sir, I don’t know who you ar-” he was shut up by an angry fist coming down to slam into his mouth, the painful numbing sensation as his head jerked back but unable to move far just bounced back. “Don’t you fucking talk.” That would be no problem considering his was pretty sure his lips were pushed into his skull, “you killed my son.” ‘Alright,” Wilson thought, ‘ _I need you to be more specific. I don’t recall going out of my way to inject someone with poison_.’ Unsure if he could speak, Wilson’s brows furrowed in confusion. “You don’t even remember him, you bastard!” another punch to his face, this time into his jaw from the left. He felt his head snap in an awkward angle and was pretty sure his neck broke.

His hands came up and tried punching at the man instead, he wasn’t one for violence, not unless his face was getting bashed in like a pumpkin after Halloween. His fists hit something, he wasn’t looking, this only angered the man and he felt his hands grabbed now, the body still pinning him to the desk as they were shoved together, then his body rotated almost like a puppet as his hands were slung behind his back now against the man, this felt more awkward for him as the man pressed roughly up against him, he felt something tight around wrists. ‘ _Zip tie? No, maybe.’_ It was hard to register with the pain throbbing through his face. Blood fell down his skin, he could feel it. Was the man wearing rings? He didn’t enjoy the man grinding up against him and laughing against his ear. “I’ll give you a break,” he felt a fist to the side of his head now, though still being held up, legs buckled.

“My son was to come in today for a meeting with you on his treatment.” birds, Wilson swears he hears birds, brown eyes slowly opening to look around the room, his eyes slowly fell on the balcony. House must be on the other side of that, isn’t he. He felt a sharp pain to his side, did the man just knee him? No, there was no way his fat legs could reach that high. “He died this morning. You said he had time, you filthy lying son of a bitch.” another punch to his side, the man hitting on the same spot a good three times. The end of the desk jabbing into his stomach. All he had to do was cry out, right? House would hear him. Looking to the items on his desk, he had tons of heavy things he could throw off. His mug, paper weight and phone could be thrown off. Using tip toes while the man yelled at him, right in his ear, spit flying, he threw himself onto the desk and swung around to knock items off, loud noises as the man yanked him back by the air and threw him against the ground.

Wilson grunted as he hit the floor, kicking his legs out to punch the wall to House. This angered the man more, he rushed over, using his foot to kick Wilson’s head. The tip of his shoe hit him right by an eye, if he didn’t think his neck snapped back then he was certain right now it was flying off his shoulders like a soccer ball. The way his head was kicked and how fast it threw itself back, all he remembers is searing hot pain, white spots all over the place and his vision going in and out. He was grabbed by the neck again and lifted off the ground, his breath being stolen by the tight grip of both chubby hands “You killed my son before it was his time to go, you fucking told him he had time, gave him treatment and then what? Sat on your throne as he died??” Wilson slowly opened eyes, everything was ending here. ‘ _Way to die, James. Though to be fair, it doesn’t feel half bad now that I can’t feel my face._ ’ he thought as the man choked the air straight from his lungs. And just as he thought it was over, as the world became dark around the edges, the man left go. He left go and Wilson was gasping for air, coughing, and feeling all the horrible pain in his face and head.

He could hear yelling outside the door, banging even. It was muffled but he swears it was House. If it was House, it was his team and soon it’d be security. “Wilson can you hear me!?” House slammed his cane against the door again. When trying to crawl away from the man over top of him failed, his hair was grabbed and his head snapped up from the floor “If you come in here, I’ll fucking kill him!” Gasping, Wilson could feel his head slam back into the floor. A hand pressing against his face with such anger, it was crushing him. Right now, all he could see was blood, blood over his eyes, he could feel it dripping down his face, neck, chest. His face was what he assumed to be mangled. Even though his saviours were outside the door, they were still so far away from actually saving him. But knowing House, he was going to break the glass and get in. Just like that, the glass shattered from the front door and the first person in was House, limping with a purpose. He was followed by Foreman, Taub, Kutner and Thirteen slowly behind. The four men seemed to overtake the bigger man, throwing him off Wilson as Thirteen came up behind once it was safe to check his injuries.

A cloth came up to wipe away the blood as he felt so much pain, his shaky hands trying to push her away, but she grabbed his hands and looked him in the eyes, “Stop, Dr. Wilson. I have to check you. I know it hurts, we’ll get you feeling better soon.” the words, the way her eyes looked into his, it was unbelievably calming. He could hear House threatening the larger man, hitting him with his cane a few times. “He killed my son, He said he had another year to live!” House snorted, “Oh so on that, you come here, to a place where we all do our damned best to keep people alive, attack a doctor who did nothing but care for your son, probably even more than you did. So let’s be real here,” House paused, slamming his cane down “You are going to jail because your son died, you’re going to lose a shit ton of money in a lawsuit I’m personally going to make sure he has, to steal every. Single. Penny. You. Have.” and with that the man went quiet, only for the sound of his laboured breathing due to all the movement and that massive unhealthy weight. “You stand no chance.” Wilson tried his best not to cry as Thirteen cleaned him up, touching against his eye, nose, mouth and jaw. Feeling around his head, front and back for lumps. “House.” she whispered, getting the older mans attention off the larger man, security was here now they’d handle that. “His head feels swollen, I think we should rush a CT scan.” the sound of a limp step came closer, Wilson couldn’t focus anymore, he was half away but the rest of him was in horrible pain. A pain that took over the half that was awake.

“Shit, Wilson. You need a body guard with you when you deal with this.” he could almost feel a hand brushing against his matted brown hair, then a yell from House to get a stretcher. Everything faded from there on out, noises were loud, the lights behind closed eyes was painful. But the voices of his friends were comforting.

“I got the page about Dr. Wilson.” Chase’s voice came up, House was obviously standing by him while he was being scanned, the voices were muffled but understandable. “I think his brain has a bleed, I need you to get inside and fix it up.” House sounded like he was in agony. “I’ll get my O.R. ready.” with that Chase was gone, just as he entered the machine he was pulled out and carefully put on a, what he assumed was, stretcher. “My god, House. I just got the message. What happened?” Lisa’s voice spoke as he was being rolled to the O.R. “Some big fuck came in and accused him of killing his son, bastard smoked twenty packs a day and expected to live? He has a brain bleed, we’re taking him to OR and getting that patched up.” Lisa slowed down and whispered, “Keep an eye on him, I’ll start the files.” turning he could hear her heels quickly clacking away. And soon, he was out.

His lungs were filled with oxygen. The feeling of floating meant he was on morphine. He only felt a dull ache from waking. Brown orbs slowly slipped open to scan the blurry room, it was dark. He could see the nurses station right ahead, they were busy working on some papers and taking calls, but they were close. A weird noise that didn’t come from him sounded, almost like a snore? His eyes slowly moved to the side of the bed, seeing House slouched over with his cane, his foot was propped up on the bed, careful to not touch Wilson. Poor old man. That must have been uncomfortable. His hand reached out to gently stroke House’s sore leg, it startled House but only to the point his head snapped up, nothing else moved. “Jimmy.” He breathed, slowly pulling his foot down and setting it on the floor to lean closer, his hands reaching out to check his bandages. Licking lips, Wilson tried to talk but nothing came out, that’s when a cup of water with a straw was offered to him. Gladly, he took it, sipping down the water as if he’d never tasted it before.   
  
House pulled the water away, setting it down on the bedside table. Bringing a hand up, House gently touched Wilson’s jawline, stroking up to his bandaged eye and to the surgery. “Close one.” Wilson could see the pain in House’s eyes, “It was close.” he agreed with the older man, “I thought I was dead.” the hand moved down to his neck, “It’s bruised up. Looks like you got into a fight at a bar. Not good on your end though.” a heavy sigh from Wilson, “When can I go home?” House’s hands slowly moved away, “Not for a few nights, we need to monitor your brain, you had surgery to stop a bleed. We need to make sure the swelling dies down and not you.” ‘ _morbid_ ’ Wilson thought, but something House would say. “Get back to sleep, Wilson. You’ve got a long recovery ahead.” and just like that, as if House’s words were magic, he closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep.

There was muttering near by, his body hurt coming out of the dream world, he could feel stabbing pains all throughout his face, head, throbbing, pounding. “Wilson’s in no condition to go to court, can’t you just take pictures and show them?” House’s voice snipped out, “I’ll have to call the judge and let them know I’ll be representing Wilson since he’s hospitalised for the injuries.” Lisa’s tone tried it’s best not to yip back at House, the two of them together sometimes was just overwhelming. “Good, get on it. Don’t let this fucker win anything, make sure to take the pictures I sent you with you.” nothing else was said, he assumed it was just indicated by body posture. His mind was trying to not focus on the pain, but House saw it on his face and he felt that sweet morphine being pushed into his body. With that, he was out again.


	2. Chapter 2

A shake, a low murmur near his ear, his head was throbbing but unsure where it started and stopped. His brown eyes met with blues, House had the bedside lamp on. “What’s your name?” he almost felt like House was breathing out the questions, so low and soft. It almost vibrated his skin “James Wilson.” was his reply, “Where are you?” he was worried that if he licked his dry lips, he might taste House, “Your apartment. In your bed.” House smirked, gently checking the bandage on his eye, “I need to replace your bandages, can you sit up for me?” a hand came down behind him, gently helping to lift him up as it touched his back. This was the most gentle he’s ever felt House be, even when he was ill with the flu House wasn’t this nice. Not that he could remember anyway. Once sat up, House moved the first aid kit close by, it had just about everything he needed. “Greg..” Wilson’s voice came out as a whimper more than he’d wanted, “What’s wrong?” Wilson could feel his heart beat faster, but it wasn’t because of being so close to House, he thinks. He wishes House could be like this everyday, “It hurts so bad.” a hand came to gently take the eye bandage off, checking it carefully with slender and skilled fingertips. “I know, I can’t get you anything good yet. The Ibuprofen will take the edge off.” soon, a new bandage was replaced over his eye, soothing the tape out to not hit any of his hairs. “When?” replied Wilson, “When can you take it? As soon as I’m done.” soon the head bandage slowly rolled off, a pressure against the staples to show House was cleaning it, then a new one replaced the old bloodied one. Brown orbs struggled to focus on House’s face, he wanted to watch the mans features, he watched how they changed from straight faced to concentration and ended with worry.

A shake of the pills, House had three in his hand holding them out for Wilson. “I’ll wake you again in a few hours. Probably two.” reaching out, Wilson’s fingertips brushed against House’s palm, taking the medication between fingers and pressing them to his chapped lips. Soon, water was presented and he took it gladly, sipping down the pills, once the cup was taken, Wilson with help, slowly went back onto the bed. The light went out and try as he might, the pain wouldn’t go away. House was under blankets on his side of the bed, with what he could hear as slow breathing. House was out but next to him was his alarm clock, timer set. Slowly, Wilson sat up on the bed. Sitting at the edge, the pain was far too much for him to sleep, he pushed himself up, wobbling before his legs went out under him, he crashed into the ground with a large thump as both knees collided with tile. He cried out as the world spun, the pain in his legs created more pain in his head and face area. Gripping the bed sheets he felt the bed move and light turn on. “Jesus, did you fall out of bed!?” House yelled, quickly limping around to check on his patient, Wilson felt his head grabbed, fingers checking over the bandage from his surgery. “I can’t stand.” he breathed out, almost in a sob. “I can’t stand on my own two legs.” this paused House, looking down at the mess on the floor. “Your legs are just a little weak, James. You can walk.” reassuring hands came to the mans face, gently stroking his cheeks. “You’re tired, you’re in pain and you need to rest.” a hand went under Wilson’s arm as he was helped up and back to the bed. “I can’t sleep, my head is throbbing. I thought going to watch TV would help.”

House shook his head and tucked Wilson back under the covers, “What you need is sleep, the more sleep you get the better you’ll feel. TV will just aggravate your head, idiot. I’ll wake you in two hours again, if you can’t fall asleep by then maybe we’ll listen to the radio.” a nod, Wilson relaxed into the bed. As the light went out, a little bit of time had passed and finally he was asleep.

Once more, House woke him. Asking him the same questions about where he was, who he was, what was today’s date and so on. Wilson got them right, so House allowed him to taste a little bit of that Morphine. The pain slowly dulled out allowing Wilson to breathe. It was a rinse and repeat type of night, he’d fall asleep, wake up, get asked questions and go back to sleep. Eventually the phone ringing was his wake up call. His brown eyes turned to where House’s side of the bed was to notice he was gone, he could hear a limp thud from the living room, House answering the phone and growling about how important this better be before silence. Then House arguing, probably to his team about a case they picked up while he’s busy babysitting Wilson. A heavy breath as he sat there, leaning over the edge of the bed, he didn’t feel good. Everything started spinning, he covered a hand over his sore lips and coughed a few times, this caused the ache in his head to worsen. He knew the signs, but his body was so worn out, so ragged that he just couldn’t make it to the bathroom, brown eyes scanned the nearby bed seeing a little trash bin, it wouldn’t be the best option due to there being no bag inside but, it was all he had to keep himself from spewing chunks all over House’s bed and floor. It came out, all he’d been holding in had come out into the tiny little bin. His retching was a little louder than he’d hoped, maybe it was just in his head. He could hear the limp thumping coming back into the room quickly, he was pretty loud then. “I’ve got to go. Don’t call me till you find a different diagnosis.” click, he came over to his side, setting the cane down on the bed and pulling the bin up for Wilson, holding it so that Wilson could cling to something else, like his poor head.

“Easy there.” House’s voice was a light of reassurance though the massive dark pain. When Wilson was certain there was nothing else left to eject, he slowly fell back onto the bed, sweaty and breathing heavily. He could hear House set the bin down and slowly start to check Wilson’s vitals. “Throwing up is a symptom of a concussion. Are you feeling anything else? I’m worried about your brain bleed.” fingers gently stroked back wet messy brown hair, brown orbs painfully opened to stare at the most bluest he’s ever seen. Or at least cared to look at. “I’m dizzy, pain, so much pain.” House flipped out his cellphone and made a call. “I’m putting you back in the hospital.” Wilson snatched the phone and tossed it across the room, House blinked, hand still pretending it was holding a phone and stared at Wilson. “No hospital, please..I can’t take anymore rides, anymore lights. I just want to rest here.” House closed his hand and lowered it, “I hope you know if that’s cracked you’re buying me a new one. However, I need to get a scan to check your brain, I know it’s hard for you to forget but just in case, you were in fact hit in the face by a big man more times than even I can count.” slowly, Wilson rolled onto his side to hide his face from the light “I know. I can feel it.” licking his lips again, House moved to get him the cup of water, “Come on, drink.” he helped pull Wilson once more up, allowing him to drink and back down he went. “Normally you’d be the one I’d call to come help me with the patient, but seeing as you’re in fact him. I’ll have to bring someone else down.” Wilson groaned, “Why? You know the signs, you know I know as well, I can tell you if anything is off.” a laugh, he heard House getting up to get the phone Wilson had thrown “And you’re also the one in horrible pain, so taking your word to mouth is a bad idea. This is why I think you’d be better at the hospital on fluids and controlled morphine.” Wilson slowly pulled the pillow around as he looked hurt, more of an emotional hurt, “So you don’t want me here?” House looked a bit shocked, “What? That’s not-” closing his mouth he sighed, “Am I too much of a burden right now?” House noted he was acting out of pain, certainly. “No, you’re not a burden at all.” this seemed to calm Wilson, he could tell on his face it was more than just an affliction. Him and Wilson have been dancing this tango for so long it felt almost natural after awhile. It was so easy to forget that strong feeling of want from each other.

House hobbled over and set his phone down, certain it wasn’t broke. “I need to call Lisa and tell her I’m not coming in today. She may want to stop by, are you up for that?” Wilson just curled up, the action spoke louder than words but House couldn’t let Wilson get away with everything he wanted, he was hurting, sick and suffering. “I’ll let you know when she’s on her way. I’ll make the call out there, get some rest. If you feel sick again I’ll have the bin cleaned and ready for you.” with that, House was heard leaving the room. Keeping the door open, he made his way to the kitchen and sat down bringing a hand up to his forehead, rubbing his messy hair around. Him and Wilson, he longed for it for such a long time and it just happened to be ruined by a drunk night the two had, celebrating god knows what, he can’t remember. They drank and drank all night till the early hours of the morning. Both completely wasted off their socks, things happened. He barely remembers much but the taste of Wilson’s mouth on his. The feeling of their bodies pressed up against one another and the lust in their voices. Everything else was just black, he couldn’t remember if they’d actually done it. Clothing was thrown aside, they weren’t fully naked, if you call boxers not fully naked. They were both too embarrassed to bring it up again with each other.

Pressing the cellphone to his ear he called Lisa. When she picked up he muttered, “I need to skip work today. Wilson’s showing some bad signs.” Lisa sighed, he could almost picture her looking annoyed and worried “Is he refusing to come to the hospital?” House made a noise “Great.” she said, obviously more worried, “I’d of expected this from you, but I think you’ve just rubbed off on him. I’ll be there tonight. Do you need me to bring anything for him?” House twirled his mug cup around slowly, “More morphine, crackers and soup. He threw up this morning because he said he was in pain but I’m seeing his skin flushed, he looks more dazed than anything, I’m certain pretty soon he’ll think he’s on the moon and is a hero there to get rid of the pesky killer kitten bots.” Lisa was a bit confused at this logic though spoke “Alrighty. I’ll be there tonight. Soup and Crackers in hand.” “And the Morphine?” “House..we can’t give him anything if he’s showing signs. As you said.” A heavy sigh from House, “You have to tell him you didn’t bring the good shit then.” she just hung up on him.

Wilson’s eyes slowly blurred between awake and sleep. His body protested every single second his body stirred from the dead. He had seen it before on patients, the pain they expressed, the throwing up, confusion, memory loss. He’d seen it happen, but now it was his turn to run down the line of symptoms. A deep breath, eyes opened more, he could tell it was still daylight due to the windows curtains not being fully placed right to block it out. It gave him a decent sight of the room he was in, House’s bedroom. With no House. He could hear the TV lightly humming through the half open door to the room. Most likely in case he had another incident and House needed to get in. A groan, from himself. Ah, what a pitiful noise. He slowly put both legs onto the floor, carefully this time, much more so than the last time he tried. Testing his feet a bit more before standing, he didn’t want to fall on the ground like a fool again. The room spun, as his hands pulled out from his sides to try and balance himself, he didn’t want to make House have to baby him anymore than already so. He just wanted to use the bathroom, clean up a bit and maybe try and be people with House. He heard the sound from the TV mute, pausing he looked down to where the living room was, his hand was barely on the door. Did House hear him? Probably. The apartment wasn’t that big. “You alright?” he heard, a deep breathed reply “I’m fine, just need to use the bathroom.”

He heard the shifting of couch cushions and the sound of a cane hitting the ground in his direction. A frown appeared when House pulled the door to the bedroom more open and looked at the smaller man, “Let me help you so you don’t fall.” Wilson reached out and took the offering hand, gripping it tightly. “I’m really alright, I made it this far.” House scoffed, using his cane to push the bathroom door open more so Wilson could step in, once inside House helped him down to sit on the toilet, a heavy sigh of relief as he sat was made. “You need help with anything?” Wilson looked up to the blues staring down at him. He needed more help, a bath would be nice “Maybe a bath later?” this caused House to grin, “Then I’ll join you.” Wilson flushed, brought a hand up and covered his face, “Greg, really. That’s- I don’t need you in it with me, just help to make sure I don’t crack my head on anything.” House chuckled, “Sorry, comes with the help. I need a bath too. I promise no playing footise.” this made Wilson lower his hand and looked slightly worried, “Doctors orders.” House finished, “Doctors orders.” Wilson repeats.

Lifting the eye patch his could tell his eye was healing slowly, the blood was less but still in his eye, making it hard to see out of It. Lowering the patch again he turned and headed out, bumping into House right outside the door, he felt a hint of pain in his head from the slight scare he felt. “Jesus, Greg!” he stepped back, bringing a hand to his poor head, gently rubbing it. “What? You thought I left? Come on, Jimmy boy. These wounds have you slacking.” a hand, he looked at it and slowly reached out to take it. Being guided to the living room he felt happy to be out of the bedroom for now, sitting down by House. Very close in fact as House sat down right next to him, legs and shoulders touching. His head slowly came down to House’s shoulder, but he saw medication on the table, leaning forward he took the two pills in hand and popped them in his mouth, getting water soon after and sipping them down. His head fell back against the sofa cushions, feeling a hand come to gently stroke at his hair. Careful of the bandage. His head lulled to the side looking right into House’s eyes, the way he looked at him was calming. It was almost reassuring that he’d be alright. But, there was a hint of anger behind those blue eyes, House looked like he was hiding some pent up anger. “You alright?” Wilson muttered, House just scoffed removing his hand from the brown hair.

“I’m not the one with a busted face.” This was true, Wilson nodded. The closeness he felt with House was almost like the night they got drunk. Bringing his face to rest against the once again returning hand, he could feel House’s fingers twitch. “Head pain?” House muttered, “At least a 9. But I think the medication is kicking it down to a 7.” He felt House’s fingers trail down to the back of his neck and give it a few good rubs. “5.” he could almost feel House smile, “Don’t expect this after you get better.” a slow shrug, Wilson was just happy to have any type of affection from this man, any type of closeness was always brought on by House’s leg pain, the only time he could touch the man was when he needed someone to fall on when the leg got to bad. Just as he was almost certain House was going to pull him closer a loud knock came to the door, startling Wilson into a headache, groaning he gripped his head as House moved away to answer the door. “Who is it?” Wilson asked, House limped over and pulled it open, “Lisa.” Wilson blinked, slowly looking back to the woman holding food in her hands. Chinese. Most likely for her and House, were they dating again? He saw another bag, new medication for him? “House.” she said and looked past to Wilson, who by all accounts, looked horrible. “Ah, Wilson.” she frowned and moved in, setting the bags on the table and sitting over by Wilson, placing the bag of medication on the table. She reached up carefully to take off the bandage and check the staples. “How are you feeling?” she whispered so close to him, “Could be better, do you have news about the guy who attacked me?” she nodded, “Wilson, your staples look a bit red, are you feeling alright?” She was worried about an infection. “I think I’m alright.” unsure. “I think you should head to the hospital tomorrow and have Chase check them out, if you have an infection we can get you what you need.” Wilson brought both hands up, “I don’t want to go. If they get worse I will, but if they are just a bit red, I don’t think I can handle being in the hospital right now.” he was tired, walking was a chore. Was this how House felt?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! Holidays are just around the corner and I'll be pretty busy till mid Jan, so I'll do my best to keep working on chapters, they'll just be pretty slow for a bit!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!

A hand went to his forehead, “Fever.” she looked back at House and he nodded “He’s had one all night, on and off. It’s down to 100 but it keeps rising to 103. I told him if it gets any higher he can’t fight me on the hospital.” Lisa nodded, looking back at Wilson, “I got you crackers and some soup. If you feel like you’re able to eat. Also, about the man. He’s a known criminal, he has at least two other records of violence against Hospital staff. He’s moved so many times I guess he found the right spot to be to do it again.” he could feel her rubbing his arm, it felt nice. His eyes shut as she traced her hand to his back and felt the tight muscles with her fingers, “He’s so tense.” She muttered, “Can you blame him?” House barked, almost sounding..jealous? “Get over here and let him sleep so we can eat.” Wilson’s brown eyes opened, looking at Lisa getting up and going over to the table, he eyed House. Were they on a date? Was he interrupting. Laying fully on the couch now, he ease dropped on their conversation.

“We still on for tomorrow night?” House asked, he could hear the slurping of noodles. “Yeah. I’m sorry to ask you to leave Wilson for me. But we need this.” Wilson slowly opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling, so they are dating. Rolling onto his side, his eyes finally closed, sending him to sleep. He didn’t want to hear anymore.

It felt to soon but House was muttering in his ear to wake up, his eyes slowly fluttered open as he shifted and looked to the gruff man sitting on the coffee table by the sofa. “Mm?” he felt gross, he hadn’t even had anything to eat or drink, maybe that’s why he was feeling off. “You need to get water, you’re dehydrated. So I need you to sit up and drink this whole glass of water for me.” brown eyes looked upset, his head was throbbing, felt like massive spikes of needles into his temples, beat up eye and the wound he had on the back of his head. He made a whine which slowed Houses attempts at sitting him up, though soon he was at an angle to accept the glass and drink it. It didn’t taste good, or feel as good as he hoped it would, but he did it. As he finished his vision became a bit blurred, House gently laid him down, checking his temperature and wounds. “We changed your bandage while you slept, your wound is going to take it’s time healing.” the way House was speaking to him was so soft. He could probably tell Wilson’s head was in horrible pain by his expression. “Let’s give you more meds and get you to bed.” Wilson brought a hand up, “Meds but let me sleep here..I don’t want to get up.” House shook his head, “you’re coming to bed with me. I’m afraid these are the rules to staying here and not the hospital, I need to keep watch on you. And we’d both be uncomfortable on this sofa.”

Taking the pills Wilson drank more water, then back to being helped up, he could barely remember making it to bed the pain was so bad. But he was there, under House’s blankets, snuggled into the pillow that smelled just like the man and the warmth of a body next to him. The light went out but the pain didn’t fade, it felt like a stabbing in the wound on his head. Every thump his heart made, caused pain, even his pulse beating caused his head to hurt. His eyes rested against House who was preparing to sleep next to him, watching him was the only good thing in this room. Though, he noticed lines of pain on House’s face every so often, did his leg get him even in dreams? His fingers slowly moved from under the blankets, reaching for House as he tried to mutter the mans name. He remembers closing his eyes for just a second, probably to blink. But when he opened them the sun was shinning again, House was gone and he could hear a shower running. Slowly rolling onto his side, he felt it. Blindly grabbing for the bin he ended up throwing up on the floor, cursing himself, though thankful it was just a little water and the rest was stomach acid. An easy clean up. However, he was hoping he would feel a little better today. It seemed like a hit and miss. Mostly a miss.

He heard the shower turn off, panic hit as he needed to clean the mess up before House got out, he didn’t want to ruin his friends plans today. Sitting up, it made him groan, holding his head tightly with a hand he had to be quicker, gritting through the pain he got off the bed and found tissues close by to wipe up the mess he’d left, throwing it into the bin and hiding it under more tissues, kicking it away from the bed as the bathroom door slowly opened he got back into bed, pulled the covers over himself and prayed the shaking would stop. Closing brown eyes he started to breathe slowly, in and out. He could hear House enter the bedroom, making his way over to the closet, probably looking to pick out his attire for later. He slowly lowered the sheet and peeked at House standing in his towel, looking through his not so nice tee-shirts and pants. Swallowing, he had a horrible taste in his mouth, but much worse than that. A pain in his heart for House who was about to go out on a date with Cuddy, mostly after they..well, he was certain House didn’t remember much of it for it to matter.

Slowly sitting up he reached for the glass of water near his side of the bed, pulling it close and slowly sipping it. This caught House’s attention. “Good morning, sleeping pain in my ass.” brown eyes looked at House, somehow this made the blues look away and back into his closet. “How are you feeling?” watching House skim through the clothing, “Could be better but not worse. I guess.” his voice sounded pained, bringing a hand to his aching head he sighed. “I got you the good stuff, conned it out of Lisa before she left. Man she is a sucker for puppies to be in pain.” ‘ _Puppies?_ ’ Wilson thought, “Are you calling me an animal or?-” House chuckled, pulling out a few shirts to try on “No. I’m calling you a wounded mutt. Anyway, there’s some strong medication on your bedside, take them if the pain gets unbearable. I’ve watched you, you lived through over 12 hours and nothing to bad has happened, I call that a win.” Wilson set the cup of water down and played at his sheets, “Then I can head home?” Jeans flew over onto the bed and Wilson flinched, “Nope. Not at all. You’re stuck here for a bit longer. And that also means no work. Lisa and I agreed you need to be tip top before you can head back for business, your brains are still scrambled. Not to mention that wound on your head from surgery needs to heal. Speaking of we need to get you checked out, I should call Chase and have him stop by while I’m out. Maybe you two can bond over lushes hair. Products you use and giggle over the cute nurses.”

Wilson felt tired. Even though him and House had breakfast, he regretted it instantly. It made his stomach remind him who was boss, doing his bests to hold it down, he wanted to keep something in his stomach, hoping the soup would stick. He watched House getting dressed in the outfit he picked, watching him call Chase to come over after work and check Wilson’s wound, bring some movies or something to keep the guy entertained. So he was passing him on to Chase while he had a good night out, Wilson just watched the TV every time it looked like House was going to turn and look at him. Flipping through the channels. “James.” his eyes darted over to House standing by the door now, keys in hand and a jacket over his shoulder, he looked OK. Not fancy for a dinner date, but alright. “I have my pager, my cell and you have the restaurant number, even if you can’t talk, anything you send I’ll come back right away. Chase will be here around 8. So.” House looked at his watch, “two hours.” Wilson smiled the best he could, his medication keeping the pain away much better than the last. “I’ll be alright Greg. Have a good night.” a scoff from House, “Yeah right. Dinners gatherings with Lisa aren’t my favourite thing in the world. Don’t purposely hurt yourself to bail me out though.” Wilson blinked, it was a dinner gathering? He was confused, dinner date or dinner meeting? Shaking his head, either way. He heard the door close, and he sat there alone.

Time went on and he fell asleep, he soon awoke with the strong need to use the restroom, quickly without thinking he stood up and turned, that motion did nothing but cause him pain, almost like his brain became dislodged from his body. What felt like slow motion he went crashing down, hitting the floor. It only felt like a second, his eyes opened and slowly, he sat up trying to laugh off how clumsy he was. Putting both hands on the floor, again he slipped, gasping as he caught himself on the couch to not fall. “What..” he didn’t understand what was so slippery on the floor, did he spill his water on the coffee table? Looking up he saw it still sitting there. It felt far to warm to be water. Even at room temperature. Looking down his hands were covered in something dark, dark and warm. Brown eyes widened as he saw blood, whose blood was this? Quickly looking around the room, there was no one else here but himself, Chase wasn’t here at all. He must have been running late or caught at work. His breathing started to get heavy, panicked. Lifting his hands more into the light, sure enough there was blood on his hands, covered from palm to fingertips, and the floor was covered, almost like he was laying in it for awhile. Unable to get his bearings, Wilson only could think to call House. Quickly he grabbed the phone House thoughtfully left on the table and dialled the mans cellphone, it rang and rang for what felt more than it should.

Concerned it was going to go to voice mail, Wilson was already about to call again when someone picked up. He could hear voices laughing and clanks of plates and dishes. “Wilson?” House’s voice rang from the other end, what did he say? I slipped and busted my head? House would just call him an idiot. “James? I’m coming home.” biting his bottom lip, brown eyes shut tightly and then he heard a knock on the door. It wasn’t House, it had to be Chase. “Is that Chase?” House muttered, though still, Wilson wasn’t speaking. Everything seemed to echo now, the door knock went through him and around the room a dozen times at least. House’s voice was bouncing off the walls and the blood wouldn’t stop falling. Wilson just sat there and wondered how he got himself into this. Something that he would more so see happening to House, not him. House was the one who insulted everyone and their grandmother, the man who used his cane to knock sense into people, the man who scared people nearly to death with guesses on their disease. Wilson felt he was much more kind, much more friendly to his patients. ‘ _Where are these thoughts coming from, James?_ ’ Wilson thought, ‘ _Are you trying to make_ _sense of this?_ _Well you’re not. So shut up._ ’ House had hung up on him. He barely noticed the dial tone as he held the phone in his hand. Barely noticed Chase barging in the door with House on his cellphone instead.  
  
“I’ve got him, House. He’s bleeding from the front of his head, looks like he fell and cracked in on the coffee table.” Chase came down to his level and checked the wound, “Dr. Wilson, can you hear me?” Chase looked around trying to find a cloth to press against the wound, “House where do you keep your wash cloths?” he stood up and hurried away, coming back with at least three, coming back down and pushing the cloth to Wilson’s head, holding it tightly. “What was he taking?” nodding, he checked the pills and saw maybe four were missing. “He’s taken four, when was the first dose given to him? Two hours ago. OK.” Chase smiled at Wilson, a sort of pity smile as he was talking to House “He’s not answering me, he’s just staring. What- House we need to take him to the hospital.” he watched as Chase’s face flinched, showing he was unhappy with the response behind the line. “How far are you, House?” a grunt, “Alright. Ten minutes.” hanging up the phone he tossed it onto the sofa and gave his full attention to Wilson.

“Dr. Wilson, can you answer me?” brown orbs just stared into bright eyes, he couldn’t fully tell what colour Chase’s eyes were. Everything was blurry. “Just stay with me, Dr. Wilson. I’m going to clean your wound up and check your vitals.” Wilson swears he could hear the sound of Chase’s heart beating in his head, or was that his own, brows furrowed. He was confused, how he got on the floor, the blood was surely his. A loud bang hit from behind and Wilson flinched, Chase jumped and yelled at House for being so loud. Chase was replaced by House, bright blues forcing his browns to focus on him, “Jimmy, what the hell did you do?” Chase was talking about getting him back into the hospital, he needed to do another brain scan. Just to make sure nothing is wrong. “How does his wound on the back look?” Chase came around behind while House cupped Wilson’s face with both hands, trying to shake him out of the daze he was in. “Infected. House, we have to get him antibiotics, clean it up. We can’t do tha--” House shot his gaze away, “You will do it here. Go back to the hospital, get what you need and come back. With his prescription for antibiotics ointment. I’m going to wash his wound.” Chase shook his head, “House.” but was soon out the door.

Brown eyes blinked once, twice and soon he was being pulled up off the floor. “Greg?” Wilson muttered, House looked at his friend and gave a sigh, “You scared the shit out of me. What the hell were you thinking?” They headed down the hall, sat in the bathroom on the toilet while House got items out of the cabinets. “I was..I don’t remember.” honestly, it slipped his mind what he was doing. “I fell asleep and then I think I was getting up to do something. Go to the bedroom maybe? I for the life of me can’t remember now. Was it the kitchen? Was I hungry? No, that doesn’t sound right.” his eyebrows furrowed, he was trying hard to wrack that brain of his to remember what he was standing up to do. House pulled his head forward, “Your surgery incision is infected. Chase is coming back with some ointment, the good shit.” Wilson pressed his forehead against House’s gut. He could feel the man tense but soon relax and soft, skilled fingers cleaned his wound. “I’m going to draw you a bath, help you in it and then wait for Chase to get back. He has a spare key so he can just come on in. I don’t need to focus on him.” he could hear House mutter how stupid he was for leaving the apartment, Wilson watched as House painfully bent down to turn on the tub. Through his time here, he doesn’t remember House complaining about his leg, or maybe he missed it. All his effort, attention and care went towards Wilson. The bath was drawn, water was nice and warm, House helped Wilson undress from the bloody clothing and tossed them on the ground for later, Wilson was slightly embarrassed being naked in front of House, however as he sat in the tub his mind went blank, it felt so good. “James,” House muttered, getting brown eyes to look up “Don’t fall asleep.” he watched as House sat on the toilet now and rubbed at his thigh. There it was, the pain.

Wilson dragged his hand out of the water and gently touched House’s thigh area with wet fingers. This caused the older man to jump, he obviously was not paying attention to Wilson, “James, focus on yourself. Wash up.” swatting the hand away, Wilson sighed and slowly sat up, ignoring the thudding pain in his head. “Take a bath with me?” House choked on his own spit, coughing and patting his chest, “Are you high? You must be running a bad fever again.” Wilson looked confused “What happened to _Doctors order_?” House attempted to make a come back, but his lips went sealed. He could hear a knock at the door and quickly got up, pointing at Wilson “Do not fall asleep.” turning, the man left the room.

Wilson just slumped down into the tub, fretting even asking House. Now all he felt was doom, ‘ _Oh. Yeah. By the way, Greg, you wanna get in the bath with me butt naked? Mhm, oh completely normal of me to ask!_ ’ Wilson rolled his eyes at his own stupidity. He thought maybe that drunken night wasn’t just a one off. But the awkward uncomfortable look with House proved it was. He could hear them muttering to one another out in the living room. No doubt Chase trying to convince House to send him back to the hospital, right now he thinks that was a good idea too. His failed attempt to get House closer made him believe his time was up here soon. ‘ _Maybe he thinks it’s your head injury? You are acting like an idiot, James. A complete idiot._ ’ while Wilson was beating himself up about the bath, House was with Chase chatting about the long term issues Wilson might have from this attack.  
  
“You think he’s going to have permanent memory trouble?” Chase muttered, leaning against the counter as House shrugged “He forgot what he was doing when he got up earlier and fell. But it could just be a one off. The pain on the other hand, it’s been over a week.” House kept his lips tight on what just happened in the bathroom, it had to be confusion. “Sometimes when he looks at me he looks confused, like he’s unsure of how he got there.” Chase brought his hand up and waved it “This is why he needs to go back to the hospital, House. He has a better chance of not falling again, more eyes on him, not to mention alarms if he tries to leave.” House sighed, sitting in a chair at the kitchen table, cane in hands, he was thinking about it. He wasn’t in the best shape to take care of Wilson, but it always lead him to feel guilty, his best friend always took care of him, never kicked him out when he was in pain, but now, House was just thinking what was best for Wilson, he thinks. “House.” Chase’s voice broke him from thought. He didn’t have an answer.

House went back to check on Wilson, he was slowly getting out, “Dammit, James. I told you to stay put.” House got the towel close by and handed it to Wilson, making sure if he saw the man fall he’d not let him hit his head at least. He didn’t think diving for him would be wise on either parts. “I’m really alright, the bath helped.” Wilson smiled, House could see pain in his face and it killed him. “Jimmy.” once Wilson was seated on the toilet he leaned against the doorway “I think you should go back to the hospital.” and almost like a fret train collided with his heart, House saw the most unnerving sight in his life. James Wilson, looked absolutely hurt, completely torn apart from the inside, almost like House spat on his wounds and told him he was not welcome here anymore. Just as he saw it, it went. Wilson went right back to being, well, Wilson. That stupid smile. “If that’s what you think is best, House.” flinch, House felt it. The way Wilson changed from his first to last name all of a sudden. “Let me help you get dressed and-” he saw Wilson hold a hand up, it was shaking, “I’m alright, I can do it myself.”

‘ _No, wait. James this isn’t what you think it is._ ’ House thought, his mind running wild with horrible imagines of Wilson ignoring him from here on out, the calls he’d deliberately ignore when House called, not looking him in the eyes at lunch, or worse. Not even showing up for lunch. While running these scenes through his head, Wilson was past him and slowly going to the living room to gather his things. House turned and watched his best friend get slapped in the face by none other than House himself.

‘ _Don’t think I’m kicking you out, James!_ ’ House yelled in his head, ‘ _I’m just old and I can’t help you as much as I want to, my leg is also a problem for being able to catch a man falling. We’d both be in trouble_ ’ House slowly walked out of the bathroom, cane in one hand and doubt in the other. ‘ _Look at me, Jimmy. Do I look like someone who can make you better?_ ’ he watched as James got his shoes on, he was wearing House’s shirt and his own sweatpants, they were what was in the bathroom at the time besides the bloody clothing. He could hear Wilson’s breathing getting harder, the man wasn’t ready to move around so much. Yet here he was, desperately trying to get out. Waiting for House to get rid of him.

“James,” House said, watching him standing at the door, sadly waiting to leave. “You’re going to call an ambulance? Alright, I’ll wait.” the way he turned, slugged himself to the couch again to rest his weakened body. His eyes weren’t looking at House, they looked everywhere but. He watched as they closed, showing him the man was tired, probably exhausted from the fall. House slowly moved over and sat down, holding his bad leg till his butt touched the couch, then he lifted his leg up and onto the table. Wilson still didn’t look at him, “I’m being selfish.” House spoke, still, Wilson didn’t look at him. “Did you hear me?” he asked, and Wilson nodded. “You know that is my job, to act childish.” Wilson snorted, slowly opening his eyes and looking over to House, “I get it,” Wilson started, the look on his face was hard to explain, “You can’t handle me, I’m a bit too much for you in my current state. So wait till I’m better, call me when you need me.” House felt the jab at his heart, “Ouch.” he muttered, Wilson looked away. “Do you really think I’m sending you back to the Hospital because of you?” House leaned forward a bit, careful of his leg. “I think you’re sending me back because you can’t handle being the one helping someone through something that doesn’t benefit you. I’ve worn you out, I’ve over stayed my welcome, I’ve pushed you past your limits-” “Stop.” Wilson clamped his mouth shut, brows furrowing.

“I’m scared you’re going to get hurt again you idiot, _I left you_. I went off on some stupid date with Lisa because she needed _me_ of all people to go and meet some potential clients for the hospital to grab a few money bucks. Since you’re down she had to pick me. I was second on the list.” Wilson didn’t get it, “So you’re kicking me out because you want to go on more dates with Lisa?” House snorted, “No. The only good thing about her is her boobs and even then, they aren’t _that_ great. Just something to annoy her with to pass the time.” House brought a hand to his forehead. “I left you when you _needed_ me, you’d never have left me.” slowly rubbing his head, House hoped he made Wilson understand.

“Never say Never,” Wilson muttered. Slowly adjusting in his seat, he looked at the table and saw his ointment before moving and reaching for it, the world spun, so he slowly leaned back and brought his hand to his head, he could hear House moving slowly, getting the bottle off the table and tapping it against his hands. “I’m not able to do all the things you do for me, so it frustrates me that I’m trying to take care of you and can only do half the things.” Wilson slowly lifted his head, looking at the man that sat there, “You’ve done so much for me House, more than anyone else could at the hospital, I’m thankful you even went this long. So if you have to let me go back there to recover, I’ll go back. I’m not going to fight you about it, mostly if you’ve reached your limit.” House looked offended, “Reached my limit? I haven’t reached anything. I’m just- I-” He clamped his mouth closed, annoyed he stood up and limped over to Wilson, tilting his head forward and taking care of the infection spot. Wilson had nothing to say for awhile either.

House eventually kicked Chase out, telling him to go home.


End file.
